Home - Politics - U.S. election, 2008 - John McCain

Sarah Palin

U.S. election, 2008 Barack Obama U.S. election 2008 Blog U.S. election, 2004

I supported McCain. McCain understands the war and foreign policy. Obama doesn't (and all his instincts are wrong).

John McCain

But McCain has a good record on the War on Islamism. He understands totalitarianism (having been its tortured captive for half a decade). He understands Islamism. He understands the need for victory in Iraq. He supported (indeed called for) the unpopular 2007 troops surge that may, it seems, be bringing about a stunning victory. Between McCain and the naive leftist Obama, for me there is no contest.

• John McCain (and official site)

• McCain's foreign policy advisers include lots of great names, like Max Boot, Niall Ferguson, Robert Kagan, Bill Kristol, Ralph Peters and R. James Woolsey. Lots of smart people I read regularly, and cite throughout this site.
• Compare with Obama's foreign policy advisers, hardly any of whom are cited or even mentioned on my site.

• U.S. military voters back McCain (survey, Oct 2008). Survey of active-duty, National Guard and reserve subscribers and former subscribers to Army Times, Navy Times, Marine Corps Times and Air Force Times. 68 percent McCain, 23 percent Obama.

Even Bush is naive about the world compared to McCain.
Bush absurdly said about Putin: "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul".
McCain understands better: "when I looked at Putin's eyes I saw 3 letters: a 'K', a 'G' and a 'B'".
More here:

Obama is far-left. McCain is centrist.

McCain is not far to either side. He has a long history of working with Democrats. He is a centrist. He is the only centrist in this race.

Biden criticises Obama and praises McCain.
From the McCain campaign.
See more video of Democrats criticising Obama.

Sarah Palin

Palin goes to a nutcase (though not anti-American) church. She has supported creationism in schools. She opposes stem cell research. She mocked fruit fly research, having no idea of its fundamental importance to biology.

But the worst thing is that, until nominated at the age of 44, she never said anything in her life about foreign policy. She has shown little interest in it, and seems to know little about it. Her heart is in the right place, though (she is instinctively pro-America), and no doubt she will learn. She's not infected with the bias of youthful anti-Americanism like Obama. She does not have a lot of nonsense to unlearn, as he does.

I would prefer if McCain had picked Joe Lieberman. But it's an imperfect world. I still wanted McCain-Palin to win.

• Sarah Palin
  • Palin t-shirts etc.
  • Fact check - Apparently she did not support the appalling Pat Buchanan.

• Apart from anything else, all the wrong people - all the Daily Kos America-hating nuts - hate Palin. Really hate her with an irrational sexist and snobbish fury. So there must be something good about her.
• These vile people at "Wonkette" hate her. And that's a pretty good recommendation for me. Read their hateful comments, if you have a strong stomach.

• And I know where Mark Steyn is coming from: "Governor Palin is not merely .. "all-American", but hyper-American. What other country in the developed world produces beauty queens who hunt caribou and serve up a terrific moose stew? As an immigrant, I'm not saying I came to the United States purely to meet chicks like that, but it was certainly high on my list of priorities. And for the gun-totin' Miss Wasilla then to go on to become Governor while having five kids makes it an even more uniquely American story. Next to her resume, a guy who's done nothing but serve in the phony-baloney job of "community organizer" and write multiple autobiographies looks like just another creepily self-absorbed lifelong member of the full-time political class that infests every advanced democracy."

• A final point. Many leftists have said: If Obama loses, it will be because the American people are racists. As if racism is the only reason people could dislike a left-winger. Now with Palin we have the answer: If Obama wins, it will be because the American people are sexists. You only like Obama because you hate strong women! First Hillary. Now Palin.
• Like the equally stupid chickenhawk and Pascal's wager arguments, the best response is simply to agree and use the argument against them!

Palin is more qualified than Obama

• Sarah Palin vs. Barack Obama, a side-by-side comparison. My favourite sections:
  • Executive Experience: "Barack Obama: None."
  • Military Affairs Experience: "Barack Obama: None."
  • Bipartisan/"maverick" credentials: "Barack Obama: Talks about bipartisanship."

• Obama's pathetic reply:
  • Hilariously, Obama argues that he is more qualified than Palin, a Governor of a state, because he has run an election campaign! And he has not even been elected yet!
  • The McCain campaign: "For Barack Obama to argue that he's experienced enough to be president because he's running for president is desperate circular logic and it's laughable. It is a testament to Barack Obama's inexperience and failing qualifications that he would stoop to passing off his candidacy as comparable to Governor Sarah Palin's executive experience managing a budget of over 10 billion dollars, and more than 24,000 employees."
  • Ed Morrissey points out that: "running for office isn't executive experience".

• David Warren on Palin's experience, September 03, 2008: "As one of my Canadian correspondents wrote, "It is like giving the job to someone who was the mayor of Strathroy two years ago." To which the reply is, had Barack Obama been mayor of Strathroy two years ago, he could begin to compete with Ms. Palin in management experience. So could McCain and Biden for that matter."

• Palin knows little about foreign policy:
  • In conclusion, I enjoy how she annoys the left, but this lightweight interview on foreign policy shows that comparisons with Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher are nonsense. They had a well thought out geo-political world view. She doesn't.
  • However, McCain does, and so do his excellent advisors (many of whom I cite repeatedly throughout this website). There will be a good team in the White House, and Palin may learn in office.

.. and Mike Dukakis looks like a little boy with a name tag?

Sarah Palin's nutcase church

The difference is, her church isn't hard left and anti-American. Her church doesn't make you worry about her political worldview. It's just the kind of religious nonsense that so many people unfortunately believe. Obama's church does make you worry about his political worldview.

• Sarah Palin's church has repeatedly entertained loony Thomas Muthee.
• Muthee believes in "witches" and has been hunting "witches" in Africa (where men, women and children accused of "witchcraft" are killed, just like in Europe in the Middle Ages).

McCain wants victory in the war. Obama doesn't care about victory.

1. McCain wants victory, an end to casualties, and then it doesn't matter if troops stay on as in Germany and Korea. He wants the troops home after winning, and he argues that we are winning.
2. Obama, on the other hand, just wants the troops home. He doesn't care if that means America loses the war. He doesn't care if that makes a waste of all their sacrifice. He doesn't care if that means Iraq descends into genocidal hell and becomes a radical Al Qaeda state. He doesn't care if that means the jihad is emboldened all around the world, and millions flock to join a winning cause. He just wants the troops home.

Joe Lieberman eloquently points out that if we had listened to Obama, the Iraq War would now be lost, Iran and Al Qaeda would be victorious, a genocide of Iraqi Muslims would now be starting, the US would be in retreat, and the jihadis in Afghanistan and Pakistan would be resurgent and triumphant, believing the tide of history was with them. He points out that you can't withdraw from Iraq in defeat and then expect to win Afghanistan. The opposite is more likely to happen.
From here.

"Where is the audacity of hope when it comes to backing the success of our troops all the way to victory in Iraq? What we heard last night was the timidity of despair."
- John McCain, Feb 2008, on Obama's plans for Iraq.

"I am also dismayed that he never talks about winning the war - only of ending it. But if we don't win the war, our enemies will. A triumph for the terrorists would be a disaster for us. That is something I will not allow to happen as president."
- John McCain, 21 July 2008, on Obama's plan for "ending" the war in Iraq. Also here.